Alibaba’s inaugural eFounders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme, which is aimed to bridge the technological divide faced by developing countries, is now impacting the entrepreneurial landscape of Africa. Part of the initiative were 25 ambitious Africans who have now successfully completed the program and are ready to implement all their learnings on their respective startups. AgriGo Ltd, a promising startup in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, is the latest to see the effects of the eFounders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme. Dioscore Shikama, a founder of AgriGo, was one of the graduates of this program said that the training helped him to “acting locally, but thinking globally”. AgriGo Ltd targets the local farmers and serves them information that can help them improve their productions. The startup provides advisory services to these farmers on their mobile phones and also allows them to keep a record of their farming costs. Shikama’s global perception, which he developed through the training program, allowed him to see the bigger picture and take into account farmers all over the world. “When we develop our platform, we consider farmers in Brazil, China and other areas in the world, who were not applied to before I went to China,” Shikama said. He believes that this initiative will not only help develop startups in Rwanda but it will also contribute to the effective growth in the overall ecommerce ecosystem in the entire content. Another local entrepreneur, Paola Heza Kirezi, was also among the 25 Africans to attend the training program, said that speaking with a lot of experienced entrepreneurs who are dealing with a much larger population was a very fruitful experience. She works with a local startup called Mergims that enables the people of Diaspora to pay their utility bills so that they stay connected to their African counterparts. “I learnt a lot about emerging fields, including big data and how Alibaba is leveraging on that by building tailored platforms to lift everyone from poverty and contribute to the development of China and other countries,” she said. Rwanda is a developing nation with its ecommerce industry on the rise. The eFounders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme will create more jobs in the region and also, Rwanda sellers will be able to introduce their products to the world.
Syed Muneeb Ul Hasan Syed Muneeb Ul Hasan is an expert in PHP and Magento, he prefers to educate users in implementing and learning Magento. When not working, he loves to watch cricket.